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Codex/Organizations
Primary Codex Entries Cerberus Mass Effect 2 Immediately following the First Contact War, an anonymous extranet manifesto warned that an alien attempt at human genocide was inevitable. The manifesto called for an army -- a Cerberus to guard against invasion through the Charon relay. Derided as "survivalist rhetoric written by an illusive man," the manifesto and its anonymous author soon fell off the media radar. But in 2165, terrorists stole antimatter from the SSV Geneva; the sole figure arrested named his sponsor "Cerberus." Throughout the 2160s and 2170s, alleged Cerberus agents assassinated politicians, sabotaged starships bearing eezo, and conducted nightmarish experiments on aliens and humans. Denounced as human-supremacist, Cerberus calls itself human-survivalist. Counterterror experts speculate Cerberus may have changed leadership with its recent shift to stockpiling ships, agents, and weapons. Whether "he," "she," or "they," the Illusive Man hides his finances behind shell companies. Few doubt he will kill anyone attempting to expose him. Mass Effect 3 In recent years, the pro-human syndicate known as Cerberus has seen its influence grow galaxy-wide. The largely untraceable organization now includes private intelligence agencies, biotics laboratories, research facilities, and the lucrative corporations that provide a front for it all. Cerberus's charismatic leader, known only as the Illusive Man, drives the organization's philosophy and interests. The level of secrecy he maintains puts professional intelligence agencies to shame. As Cerberus grows, so too does public distrust of the organization. Some commentators have remarked that Cerberus is not so much pro-human as it is antialien. Others question the blind loyalty of its employees. Cerberus: The Illusive Man Mass Effect 2 The reclusive tycoon calling himself the Illusive Man is a human nationalist focused on advancing human interests, whatever the cost to non-humans. The Citadel Council regards him as a fanatic posing a serious threat to galactic security. A mysterious maverick to say the least, the Illusive Man heads the Cerberus network. Dubbed "the illusive empire" by investigators, Cerberus is an allegedly untraceable syndicate of private intelligence agencies, biotics laboratories, engineering and scientific research teams, and lucrative front companies. Branded a terrorist and seditionist organization by authorities, Cerberus is the only human power base other than the Terra Firma Party strong enough to embarrass -- if not threaten -- the Council and its human representatives. Mass Effect 3 The lllusive Man is a human loyalist focused on advancing the interests of his species, whatever the cost to non-humans and reportedly humans. The Citadel Council regards him as a fanatic who poses a serious threat to galactic security. The reclusive tycoon is the head of Cerberus, an organization that furthers his pro-human agenda throughout the galaxy. His views have led him into questionable alliances. Recent rumors go so far as to suggest that the lllusive Man may even have allied with the Reapers. Mercenaries: Blue Suns Founded by notorious batarian slaver Solem Dal'serah, the Blue Suns began as a Skyllian Verge protection racket providing genuine protection from slavers and pirates. Eventually captured by the Systems Alliance Navy, Dal'serah beat almost two dozen charges to be convicted on a single count of conspiracy. The slaver benefited from the tutelage of cellmate and brilliant con artist Bernard "Legits" Ledger. Upon release five years later, Dal'serah incorporated Blue Suns as a legal security agency. Today, the Blue Suns boast a galaxy-wide force of batarians, turians, humans, and krogan. Each deployment is backed by a logistics corps selling everything from heavy weapons to shaving cream. Despite claims that Blue Suns sells its captives as slaves, no Blue Suns employee has ever been convicted on such charges. Many Blue Suns members sport the company logo in tattoo form, removed during assignments and reapplied at mission-end. Mercenaries: Eclipse Brainchild of asari commando Jona Sederis, Eclipse was incorporated as a "proactive" security company. Influenced by asari and salarian military doctrine, Eclipse specializes in sabotage, assassination, and personal and organizational security. Although Citadel governments regard the corporation with suspicion, it's embraced in the Skyllian Verge and Terminus Systems. Early on, Sederis sought government contracts to establish market share against the better-established Blue Suns. Her agency scored a galactic PR coup by retaking several space stations captured by the Anhur People's Liberation Army and neutralizing its leaders, a victory Eclipse's marketing department never ceases trumpeting. Based on Omega Station, Eclipse controls nearly 20% of the asteroid's real estate. Its services range from mech repair to open warfare, although assassination is reserved for meeting wider, longer-term company goals (for instance, pre-emptive strikes against pirates rather than murdering spouses for insurance money). Despite numerous reports, Eclipse denies sabotaging or kidnapping business rivals. Mercenaries: The Blood Pack Originally a small Terminus Systems vorcha gang, the Blood Pack was transformed into a legion by visionary krogan battlemaster Ganar Wrang. Exiled for striking a female in anger, Wrang obsessed over reclaiming his lost status. Leading the vorcha pack as a pirate crew, Wrang cultivated recruits and infamy for a decade before incorporating his fighters as a security company across the Skyllian Verge. His notoriety ensured his initial public offering for investors made him rich beyond most krogan's dreams. Wrang returned triumphantly to his clan, rallying elders, krogan hordes, and their firepower and biotic support toward professional violence in the Terminus Systems. Banned from Citadel space, the Blood Pack bribes its way through spaceports into armed conflicts across the galaxy. Priding themselves for accepting otherwise untouchable contracts, the Blood Pack rejects bodyguarding and security in favor of cases requiring minimal oversight and maximal violence. Secondary Codex Entries Cerberus: Atlas With the Atlas, Cerberus's research arm has combined the deadly armor and firepower of a YMIR mech with the tactical superiority of a trained human pilot. An element zero core allows the Atlas to be air-dropped onto a battlefield with minimal impact damage. Its thick armor includes a robust transparent canopy made from a polycrystalline composite proprietary to Cerberus. Alliance engineers hypothesize that the material is some kind of synthetic sapphire composed with interlayers to resist cracking and thermal damage. Although the Atlas is somewhat unwieldy in the field, its antipersonnel machine guns and ability to shrug off damage from anything short of a heavy weapon makes it a fearsome opponent. Heavy loss of life is to be expected in any unprepared encounter with this unit. Cerberus: Centurion Centurions are Cerberus's front-line tacticians. They are meant to enact the Illusive Man's strategic goals, although it is clear that they have leeway to adapt as an encounter develops. The only useful intelligence that the Alliance has gathered on centurions relates to their armament. Each centurion carries an M-96 Mattock heavy rifle modified to launch smoke grenades, leaving enemies vulnerable to crossfire. Cerberus: Engineer Cerberus combat engineers are specialized support units that assist primary forces while staying out of the line of fire. They wear lighter armor than the typical Cerberus combatant, using a modified mesh that allows greater mobility. Under cover and out of sight, engineers focus on setting up and maintaining turrets as well as repairing mechanical units or armored allies. When confronted, they return fire only for as long as it takes them to find cover again and let front-line combat personnel take over. Although engineers are not particularly dangerous on their own, the Alliance specifically warns troops to remain alert for turrets, which can mow down an entire squad while the engineer escapes. Cerberus: Guardian Guardians, the Cerberus equivalent of human tanks, are slow-moving soldiers who carry enormous polycrystalline-composite shields. The weight of the shield requires an armored suit equipped with hydraulic assists and a dedicated power supply. Combining this exceptional protection with a suite of enviro-mapping systems, guardians focus on flanking opponents to flush them from cover. A Guardian's slow but relentless approach is intended to demoralize enemies as well as draw their fire, but rip away their shield, and guardians become little more than cannon fodder. Cerberus: Nemesis The nemesis is a Cerberus sniper specialist. Customized implants allow the nemesis to withstand the crippling kickback of the M-98 Widow antimateriel rifle, turning a redoubtable opponent into a force capable of inflicting instant death. A suite of high-tech scanning equipment makes the sniper adept at maintaining cover, meaning a nemesis is usually spotted only after opening fire--assuming the target survives the first round. Because of self-destruct mechanisms that activate upon the sniper's death, the Alliance has never retrieved an example of nemesis augmentation technology. This fact, combined with Cerberus forces' penchant for suicide when faced with capture, has made scientific study of their implants impossible. Cerberus: Phantom Phantoms are agile Cerberus agents with a wide array of offensive and defensive capabilities, including particular specialization in evasive maneuvers and firing from cover. Although intelligence on their implants still evades the Alliance, phantoms are known to be able to create a personal barrier for greater protection. Monomolecular blades and biotic shielding allow phantoms to engage in close-quarters combat, and phantoms can briefly cloak in order to recover from injuries. Because of this ability, the Alliance recommends personal confirmation of a phantom's death. Cerberus: Trooper Assault troopers are the backbone of Cerberus forces. Those candidates who make it through the grueling basic training are submitted to an intensive psychological program that renders them fearless, disciplined, and unrelenting. Outfitted with custom-designed armor and rifles, these soldiers function with determined precision and practiced teamwork. The first to rush into a fight, assault troopers often work in tandem with more powerful units. They make strategic use of this scenario, keeping their opponents occupied until it is too late to react to the combined Cerberus force bearing down on them. Eldfell-Ashland Energy In 2137, the Ashland Energy Corporation successfully extracted helium-3 from Saturn's atmosphere, beginning a new era of fusion research. On the wave of this success, they merged with Eldfell Construction to vertically integrate the two companies' strengths. Ashland would recover the raw materials for energy production, and Eldfell would build power plants, refineries, and pipelines on nearby worlds to distribute Ashland's products to the consumer. Eldfell-Ashland Energy was born. As EAE's reach extended, they absorbed companies to create a "cradle-to-grave corporate experience" for their employees. Today, subsidiaries such as Second Star Living recruit colonists to staff EAE facilities, and the education group Excelsior provides job-related education opportunities to provide EAE stations with a qualified incoming workforce. Water, power, food, shipping--EAE provides them all. If EAE wants to put a colony on a garden world, they are able to do so and keep 90% of services performed completely in-house, creating consumers out of its own employees. Its primary revenue stream, however, continues to come from mining base elements like hydrogen, helium-3, and eezo and trading in their futures. Mercenaries Found in all corners of the galaxy, the typical mercenary is a former military or police officer who completed his term of service and is marketing his skills for a much higher wage. But even at the best of times, there is little quality control or accountability in the system, and frauds and unprofessional thugs are a constant problem. To counteract this, the largest private military contractors offer their own training and certification courses, to the point where would-be mercenaries can join the company with no previous experience and come out with all the necessary skills. Mercenaries work for a wide variety of employers. Governments top the list, overwhelmingly preferred by most companies for their deep pockets, long terms of employment, and appearance of legitimacy. However, mercenaries are also found working for rebellions, colonist collectives, corporations operating in war zones, or illegal but well-funded interests such as pirates and drug cartels. It is for this reason that most nation-states or galactic governments frown on the use of mercenaries, at least by their opponents. The Citadel Conventions reflect this disapproval, stating that mercenaries captured in wartime are not legitimate prisoners of war, but criminals on the battlefield, and they may be executed without violating the laws of war. While some mercenary groups are lobbying to change the articles of the Conventions, most see the associated risk as a unique badge of courage. Mercenaries: Blue Suns Founded by notorious batarian slaver Solem Dal'serah, the Blue Suns began as a Skyllian Verge protection racket providing genuine protection from slavers and pirates. Eventually captured by the Systems Alliance Navy, Dal'serah beat almost two dozen charges to be convicted on a single count of conspiracy. The slaver benefited from the tutelage of cell mate and brilliant con artist Bernard "Legits" Ledger. Upon release five years later, Dal'serah incorporated Blue Suns as a legal security agency. Today, the Blue Suns boast a galaxy-wide force of batarians, turians, humans, and krogan. Each deployment is backed by a logistics corps selling everything from heavy weapons to shaving cream. Despite claims that Blue Suns sells its captives as slaves, no Blue Suns employee has ever been convicted on such charges. Many Blue Suns members sport the company logo in tattoo form, removed during assignments and reapplied at mission-end. Mercenaries: Eclipse Brainchild of asari commando Jona Sederis, Eclipse was incorporated as a "proactive" security company. Influenced by asari and salarian military doctrine, Eclipse specializes in sabotage, assassination, and personal and organizational security. Although Citadel governments regard the corporation with suspicion, it's embraced in the Skyllian Verge and Terminus Systems. Early on, Sederis sought government contracts to establish market share against the better-established Blue Suns. Her agency scored a galactic PR coup by retaking several space stations captured by the Anhur People's Liberation Army and neutralizing its leaders, a victory Eclipse's marketing department never ceases trumpeting. Based on Omega Station, Eclipse controls nearly 20% of the asteroid's real estate. Its services range from mech repair to open warfare, although assassination is reserved for meeting wider, longer-term company goals (for instance, pre-emptive strikes against pirates rather than murdering spouses for insurance money). Despite numerous reports, Eclipse denies sabotaging or kidnapping business rivals. Mercenaries: The Blood Pack Originally a small Terminus Systems vorcha gang, the Blood Pack was transformed into a legion by visionary krogan battlemaster Ganar Wrang. Exiled for striking a female in anger, Wrang obsessed over reclaiming his lost status. Leading the vorcha pack as a pirate crew, Wrang cultivated recruits and infamy for a decade before incorporating his fighters as a security company across the Skyllian Verge. His notoriety ensured his initial public offering for investors made him rich beyond most krogan's dreams. Wrang returned triumphantly to his clan, rallying elders, krogan hordes, and their firepower and biotic support toward professional violence in the Terminus Systems. Banned from Citadel space, the Blood Pack bribes its way through spaceports into armed conflicts across the galaxy. Priding themselves for accepting otherwise untouchable contracts, the Blood Pack rejects bodyguarding and security in favor of cases requiring minimal oversight and maximal violence. fr:Codex/Organisations hu:Kódex/Szervezetek pl:Leksykon: Organizacje Category:Primary Codex Entries Category:Codex Category:Cerberus Category:Background